* AuthorsSavingThrow: The 2016 remaster of ''Death Magnetic'', which has much more dynamic range and much less severe clipping issues than the original version. It's not as dynamic as most people's ''Guitar Hero III'' remixes, but it still sounds a lot better than the original version of the album.** ''Hardwired...to Self Destruct'' seems to be this as well as of late. While it's still criticized by the band's ever broken fanbase, many fans to agree it's still a solid release within the ranks of ''Death Magnetic''.* AwardSnub:** Arguably the biggest ever, at least in music. Metallica was the largest reason that the Grammys created the "Best Hard Rock / Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental" award in 1989, ''and then they lost to '''Music/JethroTull''''' (the members of whom hadn't even shown up to the ceremony since they weren't expected to win). The look on Lars' face (as the band stood offstage literally just after they had played a blistering performance of "One") was '''priceless'''. Music/AliceCooper and [[Music/TheRunaways Lita Ford]], who presented the award, said "Jethro Tull?" in the form of a question when they read the name off the winner card, and booing could be heard from the crowd. The resulting backlash and criticism against the Academy resulted in the category being split into two separate ones; "Best Hard Rock Performance" and "Best Heavy Metal Performance", the latter of which Metallica won for the next three years afterward and holds the record for most won.** When they finally won for an album in 1992 (they had won for individual songs in the two previous years), Lars Ulrich jokingly thanked Jethro Tull for "not putting out an album this year" (referring to how Paul Simon jokingly thanked Stevie Wonder for not releasing an album that year, after winning Album of the Year in 1976).* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: See AwesomeMusic.{{Metallica}}* BrokenBase:** Several. Some fans only like their first three albums claiming the band died with Cliff and disliking the more progressive metal sound for "...And Justice for All". Some only listen to their first 4 albums, calling [[ItsPopularNowItSucks sellout]] on anything post-Black Album. Some fans include The Black Album as canon but dislike their [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks their change in style]] for the albums after that. Some like ''Load'' and ''[=ReLoad=]'' but dislike ''St. Anger'' (and some like ''Load'' but not ''[=ReLoad=]''). Some listen to anything they put out. Some of any of the aforementioned consider ''Death Magnetic'' to be [[WinBACKTheCrowd a nice recovery]] and more like their pre-Black Album work, and some have blacklisted it [[LoudnessWar due to poor audio quality]]. Even ''Lulu'', which seemingly everyone hated, has its defenders, and there are those who have predicted that, like Music/LouReed's ''Music/{{Berlin}}'' (and, for that matter, the Music/VelvetUnderground's works), it will end up being VindicatedByHistory twenty years down the line.** There are even fans who insist that Metallica was at its best when [[Music/{{Megadeth}} Dave Mustaine]] was lead guitarist, despite the fact that Dave was only in the band for a year and never played on any of their albums. Obviously there aren't a lot of these people because they would have had to have seen the band live when Metallica was still an unknown band playing heavy metal clubs in Los Angeles and San Francisco, but they do exist.*** This one applies more to Dave's guitar riffs than to Dave himself. Although Dave didn't actually play on any of the albums, his riffs were used on their first two, and he has writing credits on them. Hence, the claims that the band started going downhill after ''Master of Puppets''.* ContestedSequel: Legitimately every album, with the possible exceptions of ''[=ReLoad=]'' to ''Load'' (because they're basically a double album released separately) and ''Lulu'' to everything, because (nearly) everyone hates it. Even '''''their first album''''' is one.* CoveredUp: Both [[Music/BobSeger "Turn the Page"]] and [[Music/ThinLizzy "Whiskey in the Jar"]] are more associated with Metallica than their original artist. [[Music/BlueOysterCult "Astronomy"]] also is an arguable case.* CriticalDissonance: ''St. Anger'' is savaged by fans, both of Metallica and metal in general, but actually received reasonably decent reviews from critics.* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: Every song they do about war, most notably "For Whom the Bell Tolls". Although it's about [[WarIsHell the futility of war]], it's a kick ass song that gets one's adrenaline pumping.** Averted with "One", however. [[AndIMustScream The story of a soldier losing his arms, legs, and all his senses in battle]] is one of the more effective depictions of WarIsHell in music.* DorkAge: The albums from ''Load'' until ''St. Anger'' are generally agreed to be this although some fans include the ''Black Album'' and ''Death Magnetic'' as well. Large numbers of fans will also throw in ''Lulu''.* EarWorm:** Frantic tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tock.** EEEEEXIIIIIIT LIIIIIGHT! EEEEEEENTEEEEEEEERRR NIIIIIIIIGHT!** MASTER OF PUPPETS I'M PULLING YOUR STRINGS! TWISTING YOUR MIND AND SMASHING YOUR DREAMS!** SEARCHING... SEEK AND DESTROY!** BOW DOWN TO THE PHANTOM LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRD!** TIME MARCHES ON [-ON-] [--ON--]... FOR WHOM THE BELL TOOOOLLLLLLS!** GIMME FUEL, GIMME FIRE, GIMME THAT WHICH I DESIRE! OOOH, YEAH-EH!!!** SO LET IT BE WRITTEN, SO LET IT BE DONE. I'M SENT HERE BY THE CHOSEN ONE. SO LET IT BE WRITTEN, SO LET IT BE DONE, TO KILL THE FIRST -BORN PHARAOH'S SON. IíM CREEPING DEEEEEEAAAAAAAATH.* EndingFatigue: By the [[WordOfGod band's own admission]], this was one of the reasons for the style change with The Black Album. Kirk made a comment about the songs being "[[PrecisionFStrike too fucking long]]" and his claim that one of the band members swore that they'd never play "...And Justice for All" (the song) again after a grueling concert (he also mentioned "seeing the front row start to yawn by the 8th minute").** They've gone back to EpicRocking (for a given definition of "Epic") in ''St. Anger'' though. And a more indisputable form in ''Death Magnetic''.* EnsembleDarkhorse: Cliff.** Regarding songs, "Fuel" from ''[=ReLoad=]'' definitely qualifies, as it has a more thrashy tone than the other songs in the album, and for having a very car racing-ish sound. It even has its own official video and is often played live, all complete with GreatBallsOfFire, a thing that makes its live performances very unique.*** Other songs from this period that can qualify for this include "Where the Wild Things Are", "Devil's Dance", "Low Man's Lyric", "Fixxxer", "Bleeding Me", "The Outlaw Torn", "Ronnie", and "Hero of the Day", though if you ask a dozen Metallica fans what the best songs from this period are, you'll probably get a dozen different answers. It's pretty rare for Metallica fans to dislike every single song on ''Load'' and ''Reload'', though it's also a pretty common opinion that they would have been much better if they had been trimmed significantly, possibly enough to fit on a single CD.* EpicRiff: The bread-and-butter of some of their most popular songs. "Enter Sandman" also loaned itself to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QccIiHbcyA the greatest pro wrestling entrance ever caught on film.]]* EvenBetterSequel: ''Kill 'Em All'' is an influential classic, yet Metallica managed to top it ''thrice'' in a row (''Ride the Lightning'', ''Master of Puppets'' and ''...And Justice For All''). That's not even counting ''Death Magnetic'' that was released almost 20 years later.* FaceOfTheBand: James and Lars.* FandomHeresy: Cliff is the best bassist. There is no other opinion allowed. The end.** If Website/YouTube comments are something to go off of, covering any Cliff-era bass lines with a pick.* FanonDiscontinuity:** Which album(s) depends on who you ask, but ''St. Anger'' is perhaps the most universally ignored. Even the band themselves acknowledge this, as they rarely play any of the ''St. Anger'' songs during their live sets, and Ulrich mocked the album in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyM3_u8SDNQ this clip.]]** ''Lulu'' seems to be going this way, and a lot faster too.*** Though it's debatable how much ''Lulu'' is part of their continuity anyway, since Lou Reed was responsible for most of the input.* FunnyAneurysmMoment:** At one point in the '80s, during an interview Cliff Burton was asked who in the band would probably die first. Burton guessed it would be him.** A related, if rather creepy one: According to the Other Wiki, Cliff won a game of drawing cards to determine which bunk he would get... By drawing the ace of spades. It is known as the death card in fortune telling, popular myth and folklore.** Another one by Cliff during the band's last performance. After they performed "Blitzkrieg" (which they did on a whim), he shouts "See ya!" Fortunately, at least, this isn't the last thing he's ever recorded saying. Shortly afterward, he shouts "YEAH!" Which might not make it that much better, but it's something.** Seven years later, James would enter rehab for alcoholism. The year after that, Layne's addiction killed him.* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: From the ''Live Shit: Binge and Purge'' performance of "Seek and Destroy":--> '''James:''' Jason, impress the fuck out of us, man.--> '''Jason:''' *stops playing entirely*--> '''James:''' *{{beat|Panel}}* I'm impressed.** In a cross of this and an awesome moment... [[http://www.metallica.com/news/history-made-in-antarctica.asp Metallica in Antarctica!]]** When they tried to do [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxrcI_E-prA?t=2m35s "Trapped Under Ice"]] on tour in 1987 and hit the first verse.** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef0zsFRKBck "Fobd"]], an early "Until It Sleeps" demo recorded before they came up with any lyrics for it: James is [[{{scatting}} just singing nonsense]] as a way to come up with a vocal melody, and since it's noted as his main LyricalTic, it's particularly funny that most of the placeholder lyrics consist of "yeah". It also starts with an entertaining bit of StudioChatter:-->"Can we get fucking Kirk in here?"-->"Yeah, get ''Fucking'' Kirk in here... not Regular Kirk"* GrowingTheBeard: ''Music/RideTheLightning'' was the album where the band's thematic compositions transitioned entirely from teenage metalhead desires to more complex and mature subjects.** After literally GrowingTheBeard (in the form of mutton chops that made him look five years older than he did clean-shaven) during the ...And Justice for All era, James Hetfield's vocal style became much more deep and angry, and it's almost impossible to tell that it's the same person who sang on Kill 'Em All. A few years later, however, this vocal style was lost (along with the mutton chops); some cite that James blew his voice out, while over state that his anger over Cliff Burton's death had largely decreased since ...Justice for All.* HarsherInHindsight: The line "Cannot the Kingdom of Salvation take me home?" from "To Live is To Die." Considering this line was found in one of Cliff's notebooks...** Worse yet, it's also Cliff's epitaph.* HilariousInHindsight: Subverted; ''Guitar World'' published a fake review of ''Kill 'Em All'' after ''The Black Album'' was released:-->"''What is this crap? The guitars sound like rusty chainsaws and the singer barks like he wants to be let outside to chase a cat. This band has a huge underground buzz, but [[ItWillNeverCatchOn they're not going anywhere]]. I'll stake my entire reputation on that. Jeff Gilbert; [=GW=].''"* ItsPopularNowItSucks:** To a certain extent, the band has had to deal with this after each new album due to their Unpleasable Fanbase, and usually goes hand in hand with [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks something new on each album]]. Hetfield in particular is known to find it amusing. However, The Black Album is by far the most prominent example. It provided them with a lot of success, making them the biggest heavy metal band in the world after its release but also gave them [[BrokenBase a lot of hatred]] and sell out accusations from their original fan-base.** It's also worth noting that the band itself believed this trope originally, claiming they would never do a music video nor change their style to become more successful, stating that doing so would be selling out, yet later loosened up about them and did both.*** Ironically, in 2010, Lars openly admitted that he was a pretty big fan of Creator/{{MTV}} when it first premiered. So the sincerity of their claim to never make a music video even in 1986 is definitely open for debate.** The band as a whole gets this, because they are by ''far'' the most popular metal band in the entire world (unless Music/LinkinPark counts) and naturally are going to be the first band that novice metalheads try out. If Metallica is the first metal band you can name, chances are you'll get called out as a "noob". It's gotten to the point that it's almost not okay to like the band because of their immense popularity.* MemeticMutation: When singing, Hetfield has a tendency to end words with -AHH! tacked on to them, like [[SelfDemonstratingArticle THIS-AHH!!]] This tendency sometimes gets made fun of, but it's usually [[AffectionateParody in good fun]]. There's also the issue of "Frantic" from ''[[TheScrappy St. Anger]]''. Frantic tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick... You get the point. More recently, "Split apart" from "My Apocalypse" from ''Death Magnetic'' and "I am the table" from their [[InternetBackdraft much-ballyhooed]] collaboration with Lou Reed have been smaller examples.* [[MemeticBadass Memetic Villain]]: Dave Mustaine. On any videos of concert mishaps, expect Dave to be blamed (jokingly, of course).* MisBlamed:** Hetfield's [[http://www.eddietrunk.com/index.cfm/pk/view/cd/NAA/cdid/410456/pid/403499 gone on record]] blaming Lars and Kirk for the ''Load'' image change:--->I just went along with the make-up and all of this crazy, stupid shit that they felt they needed to do.** Music/JasonNewsted is frequently blamed for the LighterAndSofter nineties albums, with cries of "[[HateDumb Cliff would have never allowed this to happen,]]" being frequent among old-school fans. This is [[HateDumb despite all evidence pointing to Jason being the most hardcore metalhead in the band and the fact that James, Lars, and Kirk all credit Cliff as the one who expanded their musical tastes beyond simplistic thrash metal]]. Not to mention the fact that Jason had one writing credit between the ''Load'' and ''Reload'' albums, and only one on the self-titled album.*** This is all true about Jason, but Kirk did say something to the effect that ''St. Anger'' was in a sense Jason's vision for where the band would go, but he was the "sacrificial lamb" for that to happen. Presumably, though, he wanted it without the outlandishly terrible sound.*** To be fair, Music/{{Metallica}} ''has'' stated that, while a change in musical styles would've definitely happened with or without Cliff, it probably wouldn't have been a shift to blues based alternative (as was the case in the mid-'90s). It would've likely been a shift to a more progressive style of heavy metal akin to bands like Music/DreamTheater.** The people who dislike ''Lulu'' tend to blame Metallica despite the fact that they had practically nothing to do with the writing process.*** Music/LouReed was quite possibly being a troll with this album. Remember, he may have been able to craft masterpieces with the Music/VelvetUnderground, but this is the same man who brought us ''Music/MetalMachineMusic''.** The lack of bass on ''Justice'' is often accused of being an act of hazing towards Jason by James and Lars. Producer Flemming Rasmussen, who was not present for the mixing, indeed [[http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may11/articles/classic-tracks-0511.htm claims the first thing James and Lars demanded on hearing the initial mixes was that the bass be turned down]]. Ultimately, mixers Steven Thompson and Mike Barbiero "scooped" James' guitar tone (cut the middle tones out, leaving only highs and lows), Jason messed up on the bass lines (doubling the guitar parts, rather than following the kick drum as taught in Bass 101), and mixing the bass to normal levels (for Metallica; even before Jason they weren't a bass-heavy band, and switching from a finger bassist to a pick bassist made for louder bass at the same mixer levels) would have drowned out the low part of James's rhythm guitar. The result made Rasmussen joke that "Jason, Toby [Wright, engineer] and I are probably the only people who know what the bass parts actually sounded like on that album." Thankfully, a version that restores the bass can be found online, named ''And Justice for Jason'', although it muddles up the low end, and Jason's pick slapping gets annoying enough after several tracks to think James and Lars may have had a point.*** Newsted admitted his mistakes when he appeared on the first 2013 episode of ''Series/ThatMetalShow'' and the issue was brought up. He said that he recorded his parts by himself with no input from anyone else, using the same equipment, bass, and engineers that he used in his former band Flotsam and Jetsam. Also, since he wrote the music in F&J and the guitarists took their cues from him, his bass parts on ''Justice'' were too much like a rhythm guitar, and ended up clashing both note-wise and sonically with Hetfield's actual rhythm guitar parts.*** One's mileage may vary on how much Jason's parts clash with Hetfield and Hammett's. There are some people who quite like them.** ''Death Magnetic'' is often criticised for its mastering, because the original version of the album is a sonic abortion that provides one of the worst examples of the LoudnessWar. However, the digital clipping that people dislike about the album was not introduced in the mastering process; the album's mastering engineer Ted Jensen expressed frustration that the album's mixes came in already clipped, so there was nothing he could do (effective declippers did not exist at the time the album was made). You will routinely see references to the album having "terrible mastering", when in fact the problem was by all indications introduced during the mixing phase. It also appears that the album was mixed that way at Metallica and Rick Rubin's insistence; several engineers who have worked with Rubin have indicated that he has insisted on having the album's mix/master be digitally clipped. Metallica have somewhat redeemed themselves with the 2016 remaster of the album, which is actually mastered fairly quietly by contemporary standards and doesn't have much clipping.* NewbieBoom: After "One" and its video were released, and again when it was featured in ''VideoGame/GuitarHero''. An even bigger one happened after the release of ''Metallica''.* NeverLiveItDown: St. Anger. No-one is going to let James forget "I am the table" either.* NightmareFuel: The videos for "One" and "All Nightmare Long".* NoProblemWithLicensedGames: ''Guitar Hero: Metallica'' is considered by many to be the single best entry in the ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'' franchise. The best since Harmonix left the series, at least.* PainfulRhyme: Hetfield has ''really'' got to stop it with the couplets ending in "brain" and "insane". As of ''Death Magnetic'', he's still doing it.* SacredCow: Both ''Music/MasterOfPuppets'' and ''Music/RideTheLightning'' have become this within the metal community. ''Kill 'Em All'' and ''...And Justice for All'' aren't too far behind.* TheScrappy:** Lars Ulrich after the Napster debacle. Also his drumming style is criticised as by far the weakest in the Big 4 bands. Especially since the late 90s when he often omitted double bass parts when playing live.** Producer Bob Rock, whom many of the fans blamed the band's 90s decline on.** Kirk Hammett has become this as of late; like Ulrich, many fans have begun to see him as a technically stagnant and unimaginative player whose weaknesses have become far more pronounced over the years. It certainly is jarring to look at [[Music/ExodusBand Gary Holt]] (who was apparently taught how to play guitar by Hammett) and some of Joe Satriani's other students (namely Rick Hunolt, also of Exodus, and [[Music/{{Testament}} Alex Skolnick]]) and notice the major gap in ability even by objective standards.** ReplacementScrappy: Music/JasonNewsted.*** AlasPoorScrappy: Jason again after he left. In keeping with the band's Unpleasable Fanbase, after spending 14 years as the Replacement Scrappy, he left, only for some of those fans to suddenly decide he really was very talented and how terrible it was that the other members mistreated him like they did.** WinBackTheCrowd: If you can get past the [[LoudnessWar mixing / mastering]], many fans consider ''Death Magnetic'' to be a return to classic Metallica following the widely-disliked albums ''Load'', ''[=ReLoad=]'', and ''St.Anger''. The release of ''Beyond Magnetic'' soon after much-disliked album Lulu seems to be this as well.*** Connecting to ''Death Magnetic'', many fans '''hate''' Rick Rubin for being involved with the [[LoudnessWar mixing / mastering]] of it, pointing out the only reason the album is low on some of their lists are because of how poor the mixing / mastering is. It's even become a running gag for fans make their ''own remasters'' because of it.* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Averted mostly, they show up in the top 5 of any list of the best heavy metal bands, but occasionally people forget just how heavy they were when they came out. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC9aXKqrEvE This]] song was the face of mainstream heavy metal in 1982-83. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB8OvPtf_d0 This]] is Metallica's first song.** To further emphasize just how heavy Metallica was at the time, check out this sample of (the magazine) Rolling Stones' [[http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/and-justice-for-all-19881103 review]] of then newly released ''...And Justice for All''.--> "''Thrash'' is too demeaning a term for this metametal, a marvel of precisely channeled aggression. There are few verse-chorus structures, just collages done at Mach 8."* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: ''Master of Puppets'' doesn't even try to be subtle about the fact that DrugsAreBad. Nor does it need to.** Really could be said of a lot of songs from this period. The title song from ''...And Justice for All'' manages to still be relevant more than twenty-five years after it was recorded.* TearJerker: See TearJerker.{{Metallica}}* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: In addition to each new album leading to them being accused of [[ItsPopularNowItSucks selling out]] they also get accused of this after each one. Though The Black Album is the most prominent example, even their pre-Black Album works get this; ''Ride the Lightning'' for having a ballad, ''Master of Puppets'' for being slightly less thrash sounding than the previous two albums, and ''...And Justice for All'' for having a more progressive metal sound. In addition to making them commercially successful, ''Metallica'', AKA, "The Black Album" also marked a big change in their musical style to a more general heavy metal sound. ''Load'' and ''ReLoad'' continued that change to an alternative rock sound, and ''St. Anger'' to nu metal.** Going [[UpToEleven even FURTHER back in time]], Cliff Burton once mentioned in an interview that some fans who had watched the band perform in bars considered them sellouts for getting a record deal and creating "Kill 'Em All".* VindicatedByHistory: Criticism towards the Black Album has softened over the years. Although it's not as loved as the previous 4 albums, it's now considered one of their best albums and is definitely more loved than ''Load'', ''Reload'', ''St. Anger'', or ''Lulu''.** Jason Newsted is now seen as a fantastic bassist in his own right.** ''Lulu'' may be going this way as well, if the last.fm shoutbox is any indication. Now that people have had more time to digest it, what Reed and Metallica were aiming for may be more apparent. No less a source than Music/DavidBowie named it as Reed's best album and cited it as an influence on his own acclaimed final album, ''Music/{{Blackstar}}''.* WinBackTheCrowd: ''Death Magnetic'' did this to a certain extent after the divisive ''St. Anger''. In respect to the album itself, the 2016 remaster largely fixed fans' LoudnessWar complaints. To a lesser extent, this also happened again with ''Beyond Magnetic'' after the even more divisive ''Lulu''.----